Drawn to Life: A New Story
by ZachtheGamer64
Summary: After the sudden disappearance of Mike and Heather, the spirit of the raposa lives on and it seems life has finally returned to being peaceful again. However, after the appearance of a mysterious treasure chest and absence of pages from the Book of Life, it seems the peacefulness of Rapo Town will be interrupted once again in this story about the sequel for "The Next Chapter!"
1. Prologue: Disturbance of Rapo Town

A calm ocean ran along Rapo Town's shores. A quiet, hidden beach lay of to the east, and a small scarlet chest had washed on shore. A raposa concealed by a dark cloak approached the chest, and opened it. Inside was multiple Rapo Coins, some odd goo, and a book. The book had a dark-grey cover marked with an eye and eight rings circling it.

The raposa held the book to the light of the full moon.

A shadowed raposa emerged from the book.

The shadow snatched the book away and walked to the Secret Door gate, with the cloaked rapo close behind.

* * *

Jowee awoke at a reasonable time (for him). Everything in the village had gone on peacefully ever since Mike and Heather had vanished. Jowee was reminiscing on the thought, glancing at her old bed. He put on his goggles and scarf and went to see Mari and Town Hall.

He didn't find them there, and asked Unagi where they had went. He replied that after receiving rumors about a mysterious rapo on the shores the previous night.

When Jowee finally found Mari, she and her deputy were investigating the 'secret beach.'

Mari's deputy was a raposa from Watersong named Circi. She had originally worked with Mayor Rose, but had resigned after Rose lost her voice. Circi was happy to be offered a job by friendly Mayor Mari.

Usually the secret beach was... well, kept as a secret between Jowee and Mari. Though, Jowee did have to admit Circi was becoming a sort of third wheel between them.

Jowee noticed that the two were looking at an odd opened treasure chest.

"This is rather odd..." Mari said. "Usually the current pushes most debris to the western side of our shores." "Maybe we should take it to the pirate fellow," Circi suggested. "He ought to be good at inspecting sea junk.

""Tis a rather fine bounty of Rapo Coins you have there," Pirate Beard snickered when the trio showed him the chest. "Planning on keeping them?" Mari huffed. "Consider it your pay. We want you to investigate this, and see if you find anything... you know, unnatural." Pirate Beard began rummaging through the scarlet treasure chest.

"Quite the... uh... uncivilized fellow, eh?" Circi whispered. "He's a pirate," Jowee replied. "Give him a break." Pirate Beard lifted his head with his paw covered with black goo. "Look familiar?" Pirate Beard asked, unsure. Mari peered into the goo. She stepped back, a bit fearful.

"So, I assume you do?" Pirate beard said, wiping his paw with his handkerchief. "I do," Mari replied. "Thank you." She began to walk off. "Come on you two." Jowee and Circi followed nervously. Pirate Beard hauled the treasure back to his ship to hose down the coins.

"I assume you know what this means, Jowee?" Mari asked, back at the entrance at Town Hall. Jowee mumbled something. "This could mean the return of Wilfre and his Shadow Army!" she exclaimed. Circi flinched, in a way. She had heard the stories of Wilfre. "Of course!" Jowee stuttered. "I knew that!" Unagi opened the door and spoke to Mari. "Mayor, this is something you might... want to see." Unagi sounded a bit worried. That was very unnatural, since Unagi never seemed to express any emotion other than neutral.

When they entered the chamber of the Book of Life, Mari found that multiple pages of the Book of Life had been torn out. She realized nothing in town had gone missing. 'At least they didn't take any of those...' she thought to herself. "Mayor?" Unagi asked. "Please, leave me with Jowee and Circi," Mari replied. "Are you ok, Mari?" Jowee asked. Mari let out a sigh.

"I'm trying so hard, Jowee," she replied. "Everything has gone downhill since I took office..." "Well, that's not true," Jowee said. "These past couple of months we had since Mike's disappearance have been sweet. We just need to find who did this and-" Mari cut him off; "I'll speak with the Creator about recreating Hiro." She rushed out of the chamber. Jowee and Circi gave each other the worried look.

At the Creation Hall, Mari opened the Book of Life and began her speech.

"Creator, the Book of Life have been defaced again. We need a hero as well. If you think that the creation hero needs to be revived, please do so. Thank you, sir."

No response.

Mari sighed. Jowee and Circi entered. "Did'ja try to talk to him, Mari?" he asked. "Yes, but-" Mari started. Suddenly the old mannequin began to glow and come to life. The hero was reborn. Jowee gleed with happiness. "It's Hiro!" he exclaimed. "I missed you!" Hiro was a fitting name, Mari and Jowee first decided. "So this is what he looks like," Circi muttered. Hiro smiled at Jowee's excitement.

"Hiro, I-" Mari began But then the Creator's voice began to appear. "The missing pages have been scattered through the lands. Hiro will need to reclaim them..." Hiro sighed. The Creator continued. "...But the path will be very dangerous. I think now is the time that Jowee shall accompany Hiro." Jowee practically bounced up and down. "Really!?" he exclaimed. "Truly," the Creator replied. Mari sighed. "You think he'll be safe?" she asked. "He can handle it, with Hiro at his side," the Creator said. The voice vanished. Circi was amazed. "That was great," she said. "Though a do feel a bit... left out..." No one gave a reply to this.

A while later, the rapo trio and the hero stood at the open Snowball Summit gate. "This is the first area," Mari said. ""Do you think you're ready?" she was obviously speaking to Jowee. "Of course," he said. "Ready as ever." "Get going, now!" Circi said. "Be careful!" Mari said. "We will!" Jowee exclaimed. Mari was concerned. "It's ok, mayor," Circi said. "They'll be fine."


	2. Chapter 1: Up the Slippery Slope

Jowee happily walked alongside Hiro. His little bell rang every step.

Soon after Jowee and Hiro passed through the first gate, they saw Brown's Farm, and Farmer Brown working away. Though, the Banya he and his family were harvesting didn't look to well. The whole field was covered in slush.

"What's going on here?" Jowee asked. "It's the middle of May!" "That's what we said," Farmer Brown replied. "What ever happened to that weather control thing ya implemented with the Book of Life?" Jowee sighed nervously. "That's why we came out here, Brown. Some pages from the Book of Life have been torn out and we suspect..." Jowee made a 'you get the idea' gesture. "Sure, then," Brown grumbled. "Head up the mountain, some nasty- _and familiar_- clouds are brewing around the peak." "Shouldn't be too hard," Jowee said. "C'mon, Hiro! Let's go! For the Banya!

* * *

"M-m-maybe that w-wans't a g-g-good idea..." Jowee mumbled. While heading up the mountain, the duo had been hit by a sudden blizzard. Jowee and Hiro were unprepared for such a cold temperature, and the wind and fog blinded them. They could only tell they were succeeding by feeling the elevation rise as they walked.

"Too bad you c-c-can't make a fire, Hiro..." Jowee sighed. There was a slight opening in the fog, and when they finally exited the blizzard, Jowee and Hiro found a small, goo covered cluster of houses. Hiro pulled out his sword, preparing for a surprise attack. He glanced at Jowee expecting him to pull out a weapon. "I don't really have a weapon," Jowee confessed. "And these shadow monsters might be gooey... but I'll figure something out."

Some shadow walkers emerged from the goo. Hiro began to hack away at them, but they began to circle him. Realizing Hiro was outnumbered, Jowee rolled up some snow, it was the only weapon he had, and hucked some at the shadows. Surprisingly, they didn't like the frozen projectiles. Some left Hiro, and went for Jowee, who kept making and throwing snowballs.

Eventually all the shadow walkers were defeated and the goo was cleaned, allowing Hiro and Jowee to proceed onwards.

* * *

Mari sighed. She was concerned about Jowee's well-being. Ever since the 'Twilite Wood' incident during Hiro's first adventure, Jowee was always on Mari's mind when she wasn't around him. Was he okay? Was he in danger? Did he need help? She knew if anything went wrong, Hiro and the Creator would be there to help. Circi noticed how stressful Mari was and started to chat with her. "I understand," she said. "I had a really close friend too. But they got into trouble... and... they were foolish." Circi sighed. Mari knew that having friends like Jowee and herself were comforting to Circi.

"Oh Creator," Mari sighed. "Let Jowee be okay."

* * *

When Hiro and Jowee finally reached the top, they saw a pillar on the opposite end of the peak, with a bundle of pages above it. "The missing pages!" Jowee exclaimed. "Or at least, some of them."

The duo began walking over, but a large whirlwind of ice and snow blocked their path. A voice began to rumble.

"Well, well... the creation hero and his pathetic sidekick. I was wondering when I'd get to rematch you. This time I am stronger, and I shall defeat you... and master will have his reign once again!"

The dragon of ice, Frostwind, emerged from the whirlwind, and utter a low roar. He sprang upon Hiro, clutching him in his jaws. The dragon swirled around in the air, with Hiro flailing his sword about. Jowee rolled up a snowball, and chucked it at the dragon. His impressive aim came through, and Frostwind grunted as the icy projectile hit. Jowee made another, and threw it again. The snowball landed on Frostwind's eyes, blinding him. The dragon crashed onto the mountain top, releasing Hiro. "Hit 'im now!" Jowee exclaimed. "While he's still dazed!" Hiro picked up his sword and brought unto the dragon's neck, which caused Frostwind's corpse to explode into shadowy mist. "That was amazing!" Jowee exclaimed. "I'm so excited I get to see that gain. on other monsters!"

And the pages were within arm's reach.


	3. Chapter 2: Jowee's Promonition

Mari almost jumped from her chair when she was Jowee and Hiro return from beyond the frozen gate. She, with Circi following, rushed outside to greet them. "Are you hurt at all?" was Mari's first question. She was obviously talking to Jowee, both could see Hiro's arms had become their original wooden mannequin state. "I'm fine," Jowee replied. "We got some pages back for the Book of Life. And the snow should clear up." "Snow?" Mari questioned. Jowee explained Farmer Brown's predicament. "Well I just glad you made it back ok," she said. "I think we should rest tonight before heading on to the next area." Jowee was happy to get extra rest.

"Just heal yourself at the Creation Hall, like you always do," Mari told Hiro. Circi gave Hiro an odd look he didn't know what to think about.

* * *

That night Jowee had a sort of nightmare. Which was odd, he later decided. He never had nightmares nowadays. In the nightmare, Jowee was in a dark throne room, with a lifeless mannequin beside him. Someone was sitting in the throne, but he couldn't make out who it was. Some shadowy figure walked up to him.

Jowee guessed it was Wilfre, but this figure had what seemed to be a scarlet earring, which Wilfre of course didn't have. The figure was saying something, but Jowee couldn't hear it correctly. Probably because it was a dream, he thought. The figure held a dark book. Surprisingly, Jowee could here this part. "_This is the Book of Pain," _ the figure said. The voice was indistinguishable. "_A far more superior version of your pathetic Book of Life." _The figure stood back and let the one sitting in the throne attack Jowee. Jowee felt the hit, but no pain. When the attack stopped, Jowee heard voices. They were very faint and indistinct. Jowee was about to respond, but he woke up in a daze.

It was a very odd dream, he deducted. He also realized he had woken up at a... pretty normal time. Normal, that is, for most other Raposa. This was very early for Jowee's standards. Figuring Mari was already at work and being mayor, he got dressed and went to see her.

* * *

He told the story of his dream to Mari, who also found it strange. It was also unlike Jowee to remember his dreams. "I'd think it would be just a nightmare..." Mari started. "But with the possible return of Wilfre, it could've been a premonition." Jowee was confused. "A what?" he asked. "A vision of the future," she explained. "That could mean something, so hold onto the memory of the dream." "I'll try," Jowee responded.

"Now, you said there were two shadowy figures in your dream?" Mari asked.

"Yes, but I couldn't be sure of the one in the throne," Jowee clarified.

"That could mean Wilfre has a partner in crime now..."

"Who would join him?"

"Who is also a shadow?"  
"Good point."

"And there was a mannequin..."

"I don't think Hiro could fall to Wilfre."

"And... what did they call it?"

"The Book of Pain," Jowee repeated. "A- supposedly- superior version of the Book of Life." Mari thought for a minute. "You don't think..." she started. "What?" Jowee asked nervously. "When someone vandalized the Book of Life, they also created this supposed other copy?" Jowee shuddered. "I would think that it's creation isn't in the Book of Life anymore... so I wouldn't check there." Circi walked in. "Good morning Jowee," she said. Mari glanced at Circi and got a strange feeling. She kept that to herself. "I assume the creation hero is ready for the next challenge" she said, with a strange tone. "I hope," Jowee laughed. "I can barely wait.

Mari sighed uneasily as the two left the room.

* * *

At the next gate, Twilite Wood's, Mari glanced at Jowee. "I know what you're thinking," he said. "I'll be safe with Hiro." "I hope," Mari said. The two went into the gate.

Circi saw Mari. "They were fine last time, they won't be any worse off."


End file.
